This Very Smart, Savvy Mom Consignment Shopping Secret in MD just got BIGGER – HUGE!

Posted on September 21, 2015

Okay. This luxury baby products consignment extravaganza hosted in Maryland twice each year has to be one of the most innovative things around!

The schtick: Get savvy, sophisticated, smart and eco-conscious moms who love and value quality designer clothes, baby goods and products together to upcycle items they and their children no longer use and fit and earn some extra cash in the process.

And for those who don’t have much to sell or are brand new moms or mega shoppers, invite them to come shop for FREE and stock up on durable top brand merchandise and gently-worn clothing for their brood at a tiny fraction of the cost of buying new!

That’s the idea behind Wee-Sale of Maryland which is going on this weekend. The organizers outgrew one of their old locations and have decided this fall to combine their Anne Arundel, Charles and Prince George’s County sales they host each year into one mega sale at the Wayne Curry Sports and Learning Complex in Hyattsville, Maryland.

“If you loved any of our sales in the past, this mega sale promises to be the best yet ,” said Mimi Shea, founder of the Wee-Sale. “We simply outgrew our old locations and are thrilled to now work in the most spacious of venues yet! The Sport and Learning Complex is ideal to display the thousands of kids/baby items our consignors bring season after season. It is centrally located for most of our past consignors and shoppers and we hope to add some new fans of the Wee-Sale too! We are so very excited about the Wee-MEGA-Sale!!”

Gymboree, Baby Gap, Ralph Lauren, Janie and Jack, Wheat, Peg Perego, Graco, Fisher Price, Pottery Barn Kids, a wide array of boutique fashions and much more to fit newborns to kids size 16 – all will be available.

And, I love the fact it has a New Mom day for brand spanking new moms or those who have recently adopted a baby. For $10, they get to come a day ahead of the 4-public days and shop first. Sadly, space for that day is already sold out this year, but isn’t it a great concept?

Those who donate must give a minimum of 30 items to sell but with no max, tho there are max limits for clothing for space purposes. The hosts keep 45% of the sales but those who donate clothes can earn a higher commission on their items by volunteering!

So, for example, if you work three 4-hour shifts, you can keep 70% of your sales and get chances to shop early yourself.

It’s a super ingenious way to staff the event without having to incur added overhead costs of hiring sales staff.

And it pays. The creators say the average consignor pockets about $250 in cash. Sweet!

But what if you’ve got too much going on and don’t have time to sort, wash, prep and price your stuff? Don’t sweat it!

You can pay a $30 drop off fee and give up a small percentage of your consignment commission to a “Busy Mom” associate who will do all that for you! So smart!

At the end of the weekend, all unsold merchandise get donated to charity so it’s a win-win-win situation!

Public sale hours are Thursday and Friday, Sept. 24-25 from 9 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Saturday, Sept.26 from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. (25 percent off day) and Sunday, Sept.27 from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. (half-off day). Admission and parking are free. Due to safety concerns with a high volume of shoppers on opening day, no children are allowed at the sale on Thursday, Sept. 24.

The Fall Wee-Sale will take place Sept. 24-27 at the Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex in Hyattsville, MD. More than 800 consignors will bring over 80,000 items and 75,000 square-feet worth of children’s clothing.

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Parenting

No Gym Exercises You Can Do At Home

Posted on September 21, 2015

Whether you’re expecting, just had a baby or finally thinking of getting in shape, you don’t have to worry about not having the time or money for the gym. There are many low to no costs exercises you can do at home to get into better shape. Some exercises you can do while watching TV or multitasking like going over drills with your kid for homework or to prep for a test.

Everyday Health came up with 8 exercises you can do at home to get fit, here are three of my faves:

Create Your Own dumbbells

Strength training is an important part of anyone’s fitness routine. Ideally, you should work all your major muscle groups at least two days per week. If you don’t have any dumbbells or traditional weights on hand, use plastic bottles or jugs filled with sand or water for an easy workout. Experiment with the size and fullness of the bottles until you find a weight that’s right for you.

Climb Stairs

Climb Stairs

According to the New York Times, running up steps might be the single best exercise of all. So channel your inner Rocky and use stairs in nearby buildings, stadiums, or in your own home for an easy workout. Climbing stairs causes you to lift your body weight, so you’ll strengthen your legs and hips and get cardio exercise at the same time. To get started with this at-home exercise, climb up a flight of stairs and then back down, going a little faster on the way down to keep up intensity. Build up to 10 minutes of nonstop stair-climbing.

Use Resistance Bands

Resistance bands, which look like long, wide rubber bands or cords, are inexpensive, portable, and a great way to add strengthening practice to your home workout. You can use them for chest presses, arm curls, squats, and many other moves, and they come in different tensions. To purchase resistance bands, check your local sporting-goods store or online fitness supply sites.

continue reading the rest and seeing photos that accompanied this post.

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Fall Pumpkin Patch & Harvest Festival Guide (LINK)

Posted on September 21, 2015

Fall is the perfect time to take the kids to a local farm to go fruit picking or attend a pumpkin or harvest festival. You have to time it just right to make sure the fruit or vegetable you want to pluck is ripe and in harvest season.

We’ve updated our last post with a link to PumpkinPatchesAndMore‘s long listing of various events nationwide HERE!

Have fun!

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Ultimate Princess: After 117 years, finally A Baby Girl Born in this Irish Family

Posted on September 20, 2015

It was 1898 when the last baby girl was born in the May family of Ireland and after 117 years of waiting, the fam finally got its first female child.

Saoirse Grace May was born last Thursday to Laurence and Leanne May.

Only male babies were born to the May family from Ballinrobe, Mayo, for more than a century.

But that all changed when Saoirse Grace May arrived last week to proud parents Laurence and Leanne May.

“It’s terrific because we’ve gone so long without a girl in the family,” proud dad Laurence said. “There’s great excitement, everyone was delighted. We had great celebrations. We didn’t know it was going to be a girl, it was a surprise.”

He said he checked the family history records and was shocked to learn it had been so long since a girl was born.

“I checked the census records from 1901 and the last girl to be born in the family was 1898 when my grand aunt Anne was born”, reported the Daily Mirror.

Anne would have been Saoirse’s great-grand aunt.

“I’m an only child and my father is an only child so I don’t have any nieces or nephews.”

Little Saoirse was born at University Hospital Galway and Laurence said he hoped it heralded a new age for the May family and joked: “It could be all girls from here on in — you never know”

h/t NY Daily News

photo: Courtesy May family

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Bellyitch says goodbye to BellyitchParent.com

Posted on September 20, 2015

After over a year, Bellyitch Blog is shutting down its parenting blog offspring Bellyitch Parent.

We launched the website in June 2014 as a spin-off of this site in consideration for those who just wanted parenting advice, tips, news and information without having to filter through the celebrity pregnancy, fashion and other fun, yet fluffy, content we share on the blog.

But alas, the blog has been illegally syndicated by other sites (most infamously, by whomever owns Pregnatips -http://pregnatstips.blogspot.com/) and as such, we have been incurring search penalties with so much duplicate content out in the blogsphere.

We’ve tried numerous times to get Google to shut down this entire Pregnatips website which has over 100 of our articles illegally duplicated on its site with an invitation to others to copy and share so long as they link back to it. So it not only steals our content, it also gives it away to others who may be unaware that the content is stolen.

Google will only shut down one article at a time and we are struggling to get the entire site taken down for its blatant, flagrant and consistent copyright violation of our original content. It is in clear violation of Google’s Terms of Service for being a repeat infringer, yet no such luck in getting it yanked.

It has ads on the site and thus is making money for itself and Google, which hosts it as it is a Blogspot/Blogger blog and Google owns that platform. The owner is unknown though if Google sends her/him AdSense payments, it should be aware who this content thief is.

As such, we have no other alternative than to do what we have control over and at least eliminate one source of duplicate content which is the posts and articles that used to appear in BellyitchParent.com

We hope those of you who frequented and visited the site saw value in it.

You can still find the information there on Bellyitch now that our recent site design makes it easier for you to find the parenting articles directly.

Thank you for being readers and your support of that site! We really appreciate it and thank you for your understanding.

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Parenting

30 Infant Care Blogs for New Parents

Posted on September 20, 2015

If you just had a new baby or are preparing to give birth for the first time, here are 30 blog entries with practical, real life baby care advice curated from our friends at FindABabySitter for our readers.

Infant Sleep

According to the National Sleep Foundation, newborns can sleep between 10 and 18 hours per day. As babies get older, periods of wakefulness increase and get longer, but babies still spend a significant portion of their time sleeping. Because sleep is such an important part of a baby’s early life, it’s important that new parents and caregivers have a basic understanding of infant sleep cycles and sleep safety.

Newborn Care

Caring for a brand new baby is a bit more daunting than looking after an older one for many people. Newborns are so delicate and fragile that they can make parents and caregivers with limited experience a bit nervous. These five blog entries detail the basics of newborn-specific care, helping to demystify babies and reassure those who will be looking after them.

Feeding

Whether the baby under your care is breast-fed, formula-fed or getting old enough to begin experimenting with more solid foods, feeding a baby properly is essential to her health and ability to grow. Thriving babies are fed regularly and well, a task that these five blog entries help to explain and simplify.

Changing Diapers

One of the messier aspects of caring for a baby is dealing with the necessary evil that is diapering. Unless you’re practicing elimination communication, your baby will be wearing – and soiling – diapers. By perusing the content in these five blog entries, you’ll be able to deftly handle any mess that comes your way.

Baby Bathing

The prospect of combining a delicate infant with a potentially dangerous bathtub is justifiably scary for new parents and caregivers. Armed with the information in these five blog entries, you’ll be confidently bathing the baby under your care in no time.

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Whip Your Messy Family Vehicle into Shape with These 5 Organization Videos

Posted on September 19, 2015

Now that the kids are back to school, my days are filled with schlepping children back and forth to sports practices and games, attending family nights and parent mixers, and going from a networking happy hour straight to a PTA meeting.

We change clothes, snack, entertain ourselves, and do it all inside my SUV. I needed to get all the storage spaces organized and found a few YouTube and Online sites that helped me get my but in order.

Here they are in case you too are trying to get your family car in shape:

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Parenting

The Test your Teen Athlete’s Pediatrician will Have Your Kid Take this Year

Posted on September 18, 2015

A few years ago, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) began requiring college athletes to be tested for sickle cell disease and trait before being permitted to play.

The reason: the blood disease requires extra attention paid to hydration and rest and the organization wanted to ensure coaching staffs were aware of players on teams that they needed to keep an eye out for.

This applies to kids with the trait and not the full blown disease as well. It is concentrated among people of African descent, but other races are susceptible and have the hereditary disease as well.

At first, the American Society of Hematology opposed the requirement saying it was “groundless” and really implemented to protect the NCAA from legal liability and not really in genuine interest of students.

But the issue jumped to the forefront again recently after the death of a Texas teen football player with the disease.

Joshua “Josh” Warren of Longview, Texas collapsed after a very intense practice and later died.

Even though the requirement has been on the books for a while, pediatrician have been on high alert to test patients since Warren’s death.

If you have a kid who plays sports, even junior high level or middle school, his doctor may be asking you to test him or her for the trait if he wasn’t already tested at birth.

Just a heads up, parents.

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Parenting

Want to Know What Makes a Good Nanny? (INFOGRAPHIC)

Posted on September 18, 2015

Have you ever considered getting a nanny but wasn’t too sure what it entails or what traits make a good nanny?

Have a look at this curated graphic that Sleeping Angels curated that gets into the history of the nanny and nanny growth in the childcare industry and hopefully, you’ll have some of your questions answered.

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Parenting

Here are Natural Ways to Pick Your Next Baby’s Gender

Posted on September 17, 2015

Are you one of those parents who refuse to try for another kid out of fear you’ll have a baby of the same gender.

Never fear, check out Parentdish’s ideas we’ve shared in the past on how to manipulate a baby’s gender.

Consider these tips;

Start the day right

Skipping breakfast reduces blood glucose levels and it’s known from IVF research that high levels of glucose encourage the growth and development of male embryos over female ones. (Although a balanced diet is obviously best to aid conception.)

Watch your calorie intake

A study of 740 women found those who ate a high-calorie diet around the time they were ovulating were 10 per cent more likely to have a boy. The researchers also reckon the trend for lower-calorie diets may explain why, over the past 40 years, there’s been a slow but consistent decline of around one boy per 1,000 births every year.

Go bananas for boys

A study from the Netherlands found women who had diets with high levels of sodium and potassium (bananas and tomatoes) made conceiving a boy more likely. Want a girl? The same study found women who cut out salty foods and consumed lots of calcium and magnesium (beans and nuts) were 80 percent more likely to have girl.

If you’re going to give it a try make sure you don’t exceed 6g a day of salt and avoid obesity or eating too little – both can have lifelong health consequences for your child.

Keep cool for a girl

Some say a man’s testicles should be cool before sex if you want a daughter so choose boxers over tighty-whitey’s; for a son, go for the latter. And you need to keep your cool too – according to some, being relaxed when you conceive means you’ll have a girl whereas if you’re a worrier, you should start buying blue babygros.

Get in the right position

The ancient Greeks believed men who had sex while lying on their right side were more likely to have a son, while Italian folklore says the missionary position is best for a girl.They might have been on to something too – female sperm cope better than male sperm with the acid environment lower down the vagina so the missionary position is said to work a treat.

For a boy, deep penetration could boost your chances. This deposits sperm near the opening of the cervix which favours fast-moving male sperm.

Spring for a girl, autumn for a boy

In Western Europe, statistics show April’s the best month for conceiving a girl, while October and November bring forth boys. Nature’s way of giving boys a helping hand? Baby boys tend to be weaker than girls and more vulnerable to illness so this way they’ll be born before the bitter winter months…

‘Oh, oh, oh!’ for a boy

Go for the big-O if you want a boy as it’s been claimed the body produces chemicals after orgasm that make the vaginal environment more alkaline, favouring Y-sperm. Also, when a woman reaches orgasm, contractions of the womb draw sperm towards the cervix, giving faster male sperm a boost!

good luck!

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